James Langton
In the wake of pandemic-driven economic disruption, global merger-and-acquisition activity is at an all-time high, according to new data from Refinitiv.
In the first half of 2021, M&A activity totalled US$2.8 trillion, the firm reported.
The deal value was up 131% over the same period last year, and deal volume rose 29%, representing the strongest first half on record for both value and volume.
The record deal making was powered by the second quarter, which saw US$1.6 trillion in deals. This was the fourth straight quarter with over US$1 trillion in M&A activity.
“As the world emerges from the Covid-19 pandemic, we are observing a new era of deal making, which is setting records across industries, regions and deal structures,” said Matt Toole, director of deals intelligence with Refinitiv, in a statement. “Over the course of 40 years of tracking mergers & acquisitions, we’ve never seen deal making at this pace, by value and volume.”